Song Review:: Moonbyul (MAMAMOO): Aurora- Hoshiakari {Japanese Debut}

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  • Release date: 2025 February 05

  • Album tracklist: Hoshiakari, Because of you, Is This Love? (Japanese Ver)

  • Album runtime: 10 minutes

 Japanese Debut incoming! I obviously don't do a lot of the Japanese releases, but this is Moobyul and it's her Japanese debut, so obviously, I have to review this one. Obviously. She's stunning and phenomenal.

She went for somethin gloriously soft for her debut. The guitar is quiet and sentimental, and even when the energy starts to spark up, the beats of rest that act as a reset for the song do a phenomenal job of specifically delineating the different sections and allowing the softness of the verses to come to the forefront without making it too jarring. Really, even when the energy has increased, this is just such a soft song that I'm delighted by this. Strictly speaking, debuts are how to announce what form the artist's career will be like, at least for a little bit, so with Moonbyul's being just so soft, it makes me genuinely look forward to more of her Japanese releases. Of course, if you'll remember, I'm so absolutely in love with Is This Love? that I can barely stand it, and Hoshiakari is set up to be just the same. Also, shout out to the phone ringing sound effect.

Is it weird how much I love it when rappers show off that they can sing with the best of the vocalists? I was just talking about this with someone over on Threads about Minhyuk and how amazing his voice is, while simultaneously being an incredible rapper. Moonbyul and Minhyuk are practically the same person, in that regard. Moonbyul is unusual in that she doesn't have what I affectionately call the "rapper rasp" when she sings, but as much as I like hearing the rapper rasp, the lack of it here isn't something that I particularly care about because Moonbyul could honestly be a main vocalist with this voice as it is. She doesn't need anything to make her voice stand out, because it already does and it's amazing.

Moonbyul is so stunningly beautiful that she almost brought tears to my eyes. This is just such a soft music video and it fits the song so well. It doesn't have as much of a storyline as I'd like, but I'm not going to complain when Moonbyul is just there and being so pretty and talented. And the lyricism to the song! I think I'm in love. 



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